Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence joins Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network

The Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network — led by Olds College Smart Farm — is a network of Smart Farms committed to sharing data and expertise that will help farmers, industry, and creators better understand, use, and develop smart agricultural technologies with a goal to accelerate the development and adoption of agriculture technologies across Canada. The network was launched in 2021 and also includes Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm located at Langham, Sask, and Lakeland College located at Vermilion, Alta. 

For Dr. Joy Agnew (PhD), associate vice-president, Applied Research at Olds College, the network’s expansion and collaboration across different agricultural zones and land bases brings more depth to the projects and technology evaluations conducted at Canada’s smart farms, and that will benefit farmers and developers.

“We are so pleased to welcome the USask Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence into the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network,” said Agnew. “With additional partners come additional opportunities in applied research and education that will help producers maximize technology and data when they’re making those sometimes tough farm management decisions. Independent validation of ag technologies is critical and so is ensuring that validation is done using more than a single smart farm and more than one agro-climatic zone.”

At USask’s LFCE, researchers investigate different aspects of beef cattle production “from soil to supper” and test drive new options to enhance animal welfare, animal health, product quality, and food safety on Canada’s farms. LCFE has facilities, agricultural, environmental, economics and veterinary researchers to help support the advancement of innovation, education and adoption of agriculture technology, practices, and solutions in Saskatchewan and beyond.

“We are delighted to bring in the livestock aspect as we join the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network, and collaborate with Olds College, Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm at Langham, and Lakeland College,” said Dr. Scott Wright (PhD), executive director of LFCE. “We believe this network of smart farms creates an opportunity to facilitate and support ag tech innovation, development, and demonstration in support of sustainable production and to help producers maximize technology and data. We look forward to the road ahead.”

Linking smart farms across the country multiplies the learnings and increases the value of data generated to connect farmers with industry and research partners to find practical solutions to ag challenges.

With funding from the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN), the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network initiative will accelerate the development and adoption of ag technologies and systems, helping producers manage their risk of production to improve the productivity and sustainability of their farms

Agnew announced that the LFCE was joining the network on Tuesday, July 19 during a Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network presentation at Ag in Motion at Discovery Farm Langham, Sask.

Visit oldscollege.ca/smartfarmnetwork to learn more about the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network, or contact Olds College Centre for Innovation to inquire about joining the network.